A potential UFO (but hopefully not)

One thing I love to work on in the summer months is embroidery. It is a lightweight craft that travels easily and can really be done almost anywhere. I've been really wanting a sampler embroidery type quilt for a while and have wanted to keep it a simple black and white.

So when I needed a quick project to take with me on a day trip I decided to whip up a block and see what I could do with it. I used my quilting stencils as my design and made the blocks rather large. Pictured is actually the second block that I've been working on. I finished the first one a while back and have been making steady progress on this one.

It is so easy and is a nice relaxing project to work on while sitting in the grass now that the days are getting warm enough for me to be outside. I have yet to decide how large this will end up being, but I'm kinda making it up as I go.

As for it's potential to be a UFO, that will come once the top is finished and I will have to work on actually quilting it. That's where a lot of my quilts go through a UFO phase. But someday it will get done, it's all a matter of when.

A UFO is spotted...

I will admit it - sometimes I jump two feet in to a project without really thinking about how much time it will actually take. Or whether or not I will want to finish it. That is the case with this scrap yarn blanket.

The idea was simple: use up a bunch of my very small balls of yarn by making yo-yos then connect them in to  a decent sized blanket to throw on the couch or scrunch up and let the dogs lay on. FOUR HUNDRED yo-yos later, I've gotten right around a quarter of them connected and I'm just sick of it.

It's not that it's difficult to do, it's just tedious and mind numbing. I'm sure I will get it done at some point, I just need to figure out a better way of attacking it so it won't seem so soul-draining.

Does anyone out there have a craft like this one? Something you are excited about until you get in to the middle of it? If so, let me know!

New Swedish Weave

I may have taken some time off here recently, but that doesn't mean I wasn't doing anything. One thing I've done (that I'm particularly proud of) is complete another swedish weave blanket. This is only the second one I've done and I have to say it's not 100% done. All the stitching is finished, but I want to line the back of it with a lightweight fleece.

The fleece made the first one I finished was so snuggly and warm that my hubby requisitioned it for the winter. The monk's cloth is just not very soft so the fleece adds an inviting and warm feel that makes you just want to cuddle up.

The pattern of this one features an open diamond pattern which made the stitching go that much faster. In fact, this one took me about a month to complete working on it just a few hours a day. It was so much quicker that I'm actually considering making a couple more to give out as Christmas gifts. But I'll have to wait and see. With Spring here, there is a whole new list of things to get done.